May 13, 2025 • 30 mins
Fit, Healthy & Happy Podcast
Welcome to the Fit, Healthy and Happy Podcast hosted by Josh and Kyle from Colossus...
Welcome to the Fit, Healthy and Happy Podcast hosted by Josh and Kyle from Colossus...
Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to there is a Method to the Madness.
My name is Rob Maxwell and I'man exercise physiologist and
personal trainer.
I am the owner of Maxwell'sFitness Programs and I've been
in business since 1994.
The purpose of this podcast isto get to the real deal of what
really works and, mostimportantly, why things work.
Hence the name there is aMethod to the Madness.
(00:23):
Before I get started today, letme thank Jonathan and Lynn
Gilden of the Gilden GroupRealty Pros.
They are committed to providingthe highest level of customer
service in home sales.
Why don't you give them a shoutand figure out what your home
is worth?
386-451-2412.
(00:44):
Good morning, good afternoon,good evening everybody, wherever
you are and whatever time ofday it is for you, it's
afternoon time for me and I'mgoing to talk to you today about
what I think might be somepriority issues nationwide
(01:07):
regarding health and fitness,maybe priority issues
individually.
So stick around.
I think you're going to like it.
One of the things that I reallylike to do sometimes it can be
very daunting, a daunting taskand that is research.
Like it's definitely daunting.
(01:29):
It's, as anybody knows,whenever you've really had to
research a topic.
And I mean research, I don'tmean scroll the internet or
scroll social media.
Unfortunately, too many peoplethink that that is research
these days.
But I mean really research.
Go in and pull up periodicalsand see what the studies are
(01:50):
saying.
I definitely enjoy it.
I always find that I learnedsomething new or it reinforces
something that I once knew andkind of forgot about and brought
it back to the surface.
I mean, in in short, I like itand in also short, it can be
daunting.
It can be quite the task tostart.
It's one of those things for meanyway, that it's kind of like
(02:14):
exercise, right.
It's kind of like getting goingis the hardest thing sometimes
and yes, that's true for me, apersonal trainer that loves to
work out, it's still tough toget going sometimes.
It's like that for me withresearch too.
I know I'm going to get into itonce I start, but I also know
once I start, I'm going toreally start digging down into
(02:37):
the hole and then once I'm in, Iam in.
So it's daunting.
But I've been working on mythird book and it's almost
complete.
I mean I really thought I hadit complete and getting ready to
send it to the editor and thenme, being the perfectionist that
I am, I'm kind of like I wantto add this I need to think
(02:58):
about this, I really want to getmore into this and so and
that's OK, I think doing thathas definitely improved some
quality of it, and it kind ofbrought me into today's topic
today, because I've been doingsome research and this book is
all about what the problem is asfar as health and fitness, in
(03:21):
my opinion, and the problem, ofcourse, being that only 25% or
so of the population is doingenough physical activity to get
benefits, which means 75% arenot.
And the problem also is that wein the health and fitness
industry according to the ACSM,they made a very good statement,
(03:41):
stated that we're really goodat helping fit people get more
fit and we're really good atgetting healthy people to get
healthier, but we haven't beenso good at helping the unfit or
the less fit get equally fit oraverage fit and getting the less
(04:02):
well to become healthy.
And I think that's true.
I think especially in ourcountry, maybe worldwide, but
you know, definitely I think inthe industrialized nations and
some of the more affluentnations, you know, we have a
feast or famine thing going on.
We have people that are superfit and doing everything they
(04:23):
can to be healthy, and then wehave people who are not average,
so I definitely agree with thatstatement.
So the book is about what thatproblem is, why maybe that
problem is occurring, and then,of course, what the solutions
are, and it's going to soundvery, very self-patting on the
(04:47):
back, but one of the bigsolutions is getting a personal
trainer, and I really really dobelieve that, and I'm going to
leave that for another day.
But I will say, though, that itreally gave me some good
research.
I mean just a bunch ofdifferent stuff, and today I'm
going to talk about some of that, some of the financial side of
(05:10):
things.
A statistic I found that I waspretty blown away over, and it
was about talking about what ittakes to become a qualified
allied health professional asfar as the American Medical
Association is concerned, andit's quite daunting, and it
should be.
(05:30):
I guess daunting is my word ofthe day, I don't know, but it is
rigorous and there are manydifferent professions under
allied health.
So that's more of a generalthing as far as what it takes to
get into the allied healthindustry, and it should be
pretty difficult, right.
And then I dug into a lot of theresearch regarding, say,
(05:52):
personal training, and I'm notsure if you're aware of this,
but personal training stilldoesn't really have licensure.
I mean, I say really because itI mean basically personal
training doesn't have licensureat all across the country.
There are some states that havesome licensure for exercise
(06:15):
physiologies exercisephysiologists, I should say, in
exercise physiology but therearen't personal training
licenses.
And you know I have taught thisstuff.
I have been a personal trainerfor over 31 years, so I know the
pros and cons, I get it.
You know I get that withlicensure can become there can
(06:40):
become some problems down theroad with people telling you
what to do.
I mean I get all of the prosand cons.
When people in my industry willoftentimes say, oh, I'm glad
there isn't, it's like, well, Idon't know.
I mean I don't have to worryabout that because I don't think
it's going to happen.
(07:01):
But I will say that I'm prolicensure.
I think that if we had licensurewe would have more qualified
trainers out there, because itwould take a commitment to get
your license.
The closest thing we do have isaccredited certifications, and
(07:21):
accredited certifications aregood and there's only like four.
Some people claim five, butthere's really four accredited
certifications, and accreditedin this case means that there's
an accrediting body that looksat all of the research, all the
recommendations, to make surethat everybody in these
(07:42):
different agencies are tellingpeople roughly the same thing.
So there are many, there arehundreds, there are thousands of
non-accredited certificationsin the fitness world.
I mean it's a joke.
And most of them no, all ofthem, other than the four you
can just go on a computer andtake the test and never had any
(08:04):
live coaching, training or evenany proctoring of your test.
I mean it's a flat out joke.
They charge you I don't knowlike 50 bucks and then you print
this certification.
I mean it's an outright joke.
And some gyms and organizationsdo their own.
I mean hopefully everybodylistening realizes how faulty
(08:25):
that can be.
But the accredited ones don'tdo that and I've taught for some
of them and I can tell you thatthey're pretty rigorous.
I mean the American College ofSports Medicine certified
personal trainer exam has anunder 40% pass rate.
So the majority of people failwhen they take it the first time
.
I've had students that havefailed it one or two times
(08:46):
before they finally pass it andthese were students that I
thought were absolutely readyfor it.
So it's a rigorous test.
I mean, I know pass fail ratesdon't always tell us the quality
of person you're going to get.
I get that that, but at leastit gives us some knowledge, some
education, some standards thatpeople have to go by to get into
(09:10):
it.
And then you have to maintainit, which takes commitment.
You have to maintain your CECs.
So that's that with thecertification and licensure.
Again, certification is great.
I think it's better thannothing.
I wish we had licensure, but wedon't.
And what I want to talk about,though, the statistic I saw was
(09:32):
the pay scale for trainers.
Now it did not say, in what Isaw, whether it was personal
trainers or people who kind ofcall themselves trainers that
work at the gyms.
You know, like, maybe they workat the YMCA and they work the
floor, maybe they work at LAFitness, maybe they do some
(09:53):
personal training and then maybethey do some training for the
gym.
It did not say.
But what it did say was theaverage yearly salary for
somebody who calls themselves afitness trainer is $46,000 per
year.
Now what it went on to say andthis is in today's economy, it's
(10:13):
actually yeah, no, it's today'seconomy.
This is in the latest, actuallyNovember, december, acsm
Journal of 2024.
So we're talking five monthsago.
So, yes, this is the latestinformation.
That is only going to sustain aperson in one state in the
(10:35):
United States, and that statehappened to be Mississippi.
This is by no means a slam onMississippi.
What this is is about in onlyone state in the United States
can a fitness trainer who's hadsome training, according to the
research, be able to have a job,have a career in it and pay his
(10:59):
bills.
And I guess you know $46,000 isthe a little bit less than the
amount that most states wouldcall a sustainable income.
That's pretty sad, right?
I mean that's pretty sad, right.
I mean I understand that notthat long ago, that that wasn't
(11:21):
a bad salary, and pleas, I'm notbeing judgmental, I'm not
sitting here saying what's goodmoney and what's not good money.
I mean that's all relative,right.
I mean, for a person thatdoesn't have any bills, that's
going to go a long way.
For a person that's got studentloan debt and they're starting
their career off and the rentand mortgage prices are what
(11:41):
they are.
I have a daughter who's 21,getting ready to be 22, and I
can tell you, man, there is noway.
I mean I don't know if shemakes that at Publix I mean,
it's probably in that ballpark,maybe a little bit less.
I really really don't know.
But I know she's struggling andis very, you know, very nervous
about getting her own place andbeing a parent.
(12:01):
I'm like you know, it's allright, you're still going to
school, you know you'll, we'llfigure this out.
But I do know that that wouldbe tough if you're coming out of
school and you're in a state inFlorida where I am located
happens to be one of thosestates where that money isn't
going to cut it.
I mean and then it went on tosay the same statistics that
(12:22):
that person, or these peopleonly 20% of them are continuing
to work at that fitness trainerjob a year later.
Well, it only makes sense ifthe average salary for a fitness
trainer is $46,000 a year andin only one state could they
basically pay their bills and Iknow this is subjective Then it
(12:44):
only makes sense that a person,maybe with a lot of passion, is
only going to be able to do thatfor a short period of time and
they're either going to have toget a raise of course they are
or, I don't know, they're goingto have to get roommates.
I mean, it's just money, right?
I mean it's just simpleeconomics that if that is barely
(13:06):
over and under in most statesto pay your bills, you can only
do it for so long.
And so what happens?
The person who's considered aqualified fitness professional
leaves the industry and goes andstarts making money at
something that can pay theirbills.
I mean, looking at that, thereare plenty of jobs that are
(13:30):
going to pay the bills betterthan that $46,000.
And that's fine.
I have nothing against whateveranybody does to make money,
whether they go to trade school,whether they go to college,
whether they've never gone tocollege, never go to trade
school, whatever, I don't care.
But if you've got a person whowanted to do this and now they
(13:53):
can't, and now you're onlykeeping 20% of them for whatever
reason, well, the reason isthey can't pay their bills,
right, the rest of them?
That's not good.
And so then we have part of theproblem of the health crisis,
right?
The health and fitness crisis,where study after study after
study has shown that a minimalamount of physical activity 150
(14:20):
minutes of moderate exercise perweek, plus two days of strength
training is enough to get thebenefits to improve somebody's
health.
So if we had more peoplepreaching and teaching that and
teaching people how to do it andhaving the passion, because
(14:42):
you're obviously going to havethe passion to go into it.
But if they go into it trying tohelp people but they can't pay
their bills, then what are westuck with?
Can't pay their bills, thenwhat are we stuck with?
Well, if you've listened topast podcasts or when you buy
the book, you'll see all thisinteresting research.
But what they're stuck with andI don't know what it is with
(15:03):
this 20% or 80% it sounds likeit's made up, but I promise you
that it's not.
But what they're stuck with isonly 20% of the fitness
influencers have the credentialsto be giving advice out there.
Now, these aren't the peoplenecessarily that you know, have
(15:25):
the education or whatever, butthey are self-proclaimed, have
what they say they need.
These are the people on yoursocial media.
They're on your YouTubechannels, podcasters.
They are fitness influencers,and only 20% polled have the
credentials.
Yet, if you remember from apast episode, over 70% of people
(16:00):
have admitted that aninfluencer has influenced their
fitness.
So you are being influenced 70%of the cases by somebody who
doesn't know what they'retalking about.
And so what happens then?
You get frustrated because youthink you're supposed to be
doing intermittent fasting.
Hey, and maybe that's great foryou, but if you've listened,
the research doesn't reallysupport it, okay.
Or you think that you need todo 2000 crunches a day to have a
(16:23):
flat stomach so you can wearyour bikini to the beach this
summer.
Or you think you should bedoing the ketogenic diet.
Or you think you should do allof your exercise on fasting
cardio, which means you haven'teaten before you do your
cardiorespiratory, because it'sgoing to magically burn more fat
(16:46):
than if you did.
So I'm giving you all thesemyths that are out there that
influencers are peddling leftand right.
Don't even get me going in thesupplement world, because hardly
any supplements have passed thetest.
So you're buying supplements,you're buying BS, you're going
out there, you're trying thesethings.
(17:06):
It's not working.
You're getting frustrated, youquit, you go back to your old
lifestyle, and then that's whywe have only 25% of the people
doing the minimal amount ofexercise to get benefits.
Don't you see the cycle I mean.
So what can you do about it?
I mean, what can we all doabout it?
(17:27):
We have to value health andfitness more.
I just listened to a podcasterwho was talking about wealth and
I think I've brought this upbefore, but I like those
podcasts.
They're interesting to me.
And no, I'm not greedy.
And no, you know, that's not mybig interest.
And no, I don't play in thestock market all the time.
No, what I find interestingabout these guys is they always
(17:52):
make the you know, make thegeneral statement we probably
have all held on to, but thathealth is wealth.
And the one I just finishedlistening to it was so funny.
The podcaster asked him.
She said so if you're going toleave people with one financial
piece of advice, what is it?
And he said take your healthserious, his words.
(18:14):
Take your mental health, yourspiritual health and your
physical health serious.
Make that number one before youdo anything else.
I hear it all the time fromthese guys and what's so funny
(18:34):
is when I pull up their picturesto check them out, like I
pulled this guy up on Threadsand X or Twitter to see what he
looked like and he's thischiseled faced, fit looking guy.
I'm like what is it?
I mean, they just seem to getit Like success begets success
for some reason with this.
But in any event, if we knowthis, if we're all claiming that
(18:58):
we understand that this is apriority, then why is a
professional fitness trainer?
Again, I don't know if that'spersonal trainer.
Personal trainers tend to makea little bit more, but they have
to make it on their own.
I mean, I know that there'snobody paying my paychecks, it's
clients.
(19:18):
I think I have somewhere around50 clients or something like
that.
They all pay my paycheck.
So us personal trainers youknow you eat what you kill.
For the most part, rarely dopersonal trainers work for gyms.
I guess that's when they wouldbe called the fitness trainers.
But if we value it so much,then why is their salary not
(19:39):
sustainable in 49 states?
If we really see it as apriority in this country and
people talk about it all thetime and most of the doctors I
know really push for it andhustle for it I mean, the ones I
know are great about it.
So if we know this, what'shappening?
(20:01):
Why aren't they making moremoney?
I mean, I know a lot ofbusinesses in town and I'm not
going to mention any namesbecause there's probably people
on their boards that are goingto be pissed off, but I know
that they canned wellnessprograms.
I know for a fact they got ridof them and I know what they
were paying their wellnessdirectors and they were paying
their wellness workers.
(20:21):
It was not good.
I mean, it was probably as lowon the salary board as anybody
in their organization.
It's like okay, so these peoplehave degrees, they have
certifications and you don'twant to pay them.
So what message is that sendingto everybody else?
(20:43):
When I was in college, when Iwas working on my master's
degree, corporate wellness wasgoing to be the next big thing.
In fact, my master's degree wascalled exercise, physiology,
slash wellness, because wellnesswas going to be the big thing
and a lot of the people thestudents my age, older, younger,
whatever went into graduateschool thinking they were either
(21:05):
going to go out on their own orbecome wellness directors for
hospitals, for privatebusinesses.
I mean, it was big Coors, thebeer company had a big wellness
department.
Believe it or not.
The guy out in Colorado I don'teven know if they're still in
business, I have no idea but Iknow that he had a personal
passion for physical fitness andhe had one of the best
(21:27):
facilities and paid the bestmoney.
Disney had a huge wellnessprogram.
There was wellness programs inWinter Park and Orlando.
It was really really big.
Some companies called it workhardening programs and a lot of
the physical therapists that Iknew started working in that and
they were pushing exercisephysiologists in that direction.
(21:49):
Because you work for companieslike UPS male companies, you
know, nowadays I guess it wouldbe Amazon but you work for them
to strengthen their employeesthat work in the warehouses, I
mean that is great, that is likegreat programs and they were
getting paid decent.
And then they weren't.
Companies quit investing in thewellness movement, end over
(22:18):
that.
A healthy and well-employedmisses less work, is more
productive and costs the companyless in medical insurance and
medical bills.
So they know that.
But then it comes to okay.
So we've got to hire Jane, whohas a master's degree in
exercise physiology fromUniversity of Florida.
(22:40):
I'm a UCF guy but I'm justthrowing Florida out there
because they have a phenomenalex-phys program.
So we're going to hire her.
She's one of the best and she'sgoing to run our program and
she's going to hire a smallstaff to help her run the gym
and do you know, say, lipidprofiles, you know through the
(23:00):
doctor's prescriptions, all thisstuff.
Whatever, she's going to be thewellness director.
You know, say, lipid profiles,you know, through the doctor's
prescriptions, all this stuff,whatever.
She's going to be the wellnessdirector, but you know what?
We're going to have to pay her$75,000 a year.
You know, to do this, you'regoing to see companies go oh, we
are Well, yeah, but if you dothis, then you're going to get
this back in all of your 1,000employees.
(23:21):
It's going to cost you less toget this back in all of your
1,000 employees.
It's going to cost you less todo this.
They're going to not call insick as much.
They're going to feel happier.
They're going to do a betterjob because they're more fit.
I mean, studies have shown itover and over and, of course,
down the road, they're going tobe way more productive and
hopefully they're still workingfor you.
And if you took care of theirwellness or helped them take
care of their wellness or gavethem opportunities to take care
(23:43):
of their wellness, they probablyare still working for you.
Oh well, you know what We'll dothat next year.
I mean, this is what happensall of the time and I'm just
giving that scenario out there.
You know why don't we value itmore?
Why don't we value it more.
One of the guys I listened to, amotivational speaker kind of
(24:04):
guy.
He always says it's not reallya principle of yours unless it
costs you money.
I mean, isn't that so true?
Somebody will say, oh, you know, I really really believe in
this.
You know it's a big principleof mine.
It's like okay, so you knowit's going to cost you this much
.
It's like well, I mean it'sgreat for somebody else.
(24:27):
I mean you see where I'm goingwith that.
I mean, is it really afoundational principle that we
should all be thinking about?
I mean, the clients that I have,I mean I know they value it.
They pay the money because theyknow it helps them.
I mean a lot of them know whatthey're supposed to be doing but
(24:50):
they don't do it and they knowthat about themselves.
So they're like you know I'mgoing to pay so this person can
tell me what I should be doing,and then they're going to help
me do it correctly, and I don'tsee this as like a terrible
expense.
I mean I'm paying into myhealth.
(25:11):
I mean that's the conversationsI have with clients.
You know, I can't really everremember a time.
I mean there's probably been acouple of times where somebody
was, you know, kicking tiressomewhere at a place and was
talking to me about personaltraining, which I never solicit.
When I'm out public or even atevents, when I go speak places,
(25:32):
I still don't solicit.
It makes me feel veryuncomfortable, like I just don't
do it, and literally it makesme feel uncomfortable and I do
all I can to.
You know, if I think somebodyis getting ready to ask me if
I'm taking any clients, I'llchange the subject or walk away.
I mean, that's howuncomfortable it makes me.
Number one, because I rarely amtaking new clients and number
(25:53):
two, it's just not a good placeto do that.
I mean, I want somebody, youknow, to have taken the time to
think about it and call me, notyou know.
Oh, I sparked motivation forthem and now they're going to
come up and kick tires and asksome questions.
But you know, obviously, ifthey do, I'm going to politely
answer questions.
But maybe occasionally there'sbeen that case where they'll ask
(26:17):
me and I'll say, oh, it's thismuch.
Oh, yeah, that's a little, youknow, that's a little much out
of the budget.
I mean it might happen then.
But like when people call orkeep people come in for
consultations or clients thatcurrently pay.
I've never heard them say, ohman, this is like really
expensive, like it just doesn'tcome up, cause I think when
(26:38):
people are ready to change theirhealth, it's not expensive.
I mean, you know, we've all gotour priorities, what we want
and what we can spend our moneyon.
I absolutely get it.
But it just doesn't come upprivately because I think at
this point people are ready tochange.
So how do we get society ingeneral to think about this?
(27:00):
How do we get you know wheretrainers at gyms are?
Fitness trainers at gyms areconsidered somebody that can
really, really help people,because they are.
If they have their credentials,they can.
I mean, they're on the frontlines.
They're the ones out there thatcan give you the right advice
(27:21):
or the wrong advice.
And guess what people?
If they make crappy incomes,you're not going to get people
who are motivated and passionateto help you because they didn't
go into the field.
They realized they can't do it.
I know a lot of people thatthat's the case, that they know
more than the trainers workingout there and they chose to go
(27:41):
into a different career becausethey couldn't pay the bills for
them.
I know I have a lot of friendslike that.
I got friends with exercisephysiology degrees that are
working as insurance salesmen orselling real estate.
So I mean, how are we going toput our money where our mouth is
in this country and understandthat if we really really, really
(28:01):
value it like we say we do, howare we going to really really
value it?
All right, I've learned longago that I can't change the
world.
I can only change me and mycircle of influence.
But I'm just putting it all outthere and you know, the way I
try to help is I try to educatepeople.
I try to encourage young peoplewho have good physiques and are
(28:26):
passionate about health andfitness to go into the industry
and try to make it.
I mean, that's how I do it andI have taught sports medicine
before and I can proudly saythat I have a lot of students
out there at least 10 in thearea that are out there making a
living and I'm very proud ofthat because they're making a
living.
They came to me wanting to knowhow to become a trainer.
(28:49):
They got their degree, they gottheir certification and they're
making a living and now it's upto them to make a better living
.
But that's what I try to do, soI'm just going to put this out
there.
I want you to value it andremember.
If it's really a principle ofyours, then it's going to cost
you some money, right?
Thank you for listening totoday's show.
(29:10):
I ask you to please follow thisshow on wherever you get your
podcasts and also please hitautomatic downloads.
It really helps me and it helpsthe show.
Now I want to thank OverheadDoor of Daytona Beach, their
premier garage door company inVolusia County, with the best
product with the best service.
(29:31):
I can vouch for Jeff and ZachHawk, the owners.
They are great people.
If you need any help with yourgarage doors, give them a shout.
386-222-3165.
Welcome to there is a Method to the Madness.
My name is Rob Maxwell and I'man exercise physiologist and
personal trainer.
I am the owner of Maxwell'sFitness Programs and I've been
in business since 1994.
The purpose of this podcast isto get to the real deal of what
really works and, mostimportantly, why things work.
Hence the name there is aMethod to the Madness.
(00:23):
Before I get started today, letme thank Jonathan and Lynn
Gilden of the Gilden GroupRealty Pros.
They are committed to providingthe highest level of customer
service in home sales.
Why don't you give them a shoutand figure out what your home
is worth?
386-451-2412.
(00:44):
Good morning, good afternoon,good evening everybody, wherever
you are and whatever time ofday it is for you, it's
afternoon time for me and I'mgoing to talk to you today about
what I think might be somepriority issues nationwide
(01:07):
regarding health and fitness,maybe priority issues
individually.
So stick around.
I think you're going to like it.
One of the things that I reallylike to do sometimes it can be
very daunting, a daunting taskand that is research.
Like it's definitely daunting.
(01:29):
It's, as anybody knows,whenever you've really had to
research a topic.
And I mean research, I don'tmean scroll the internet or
scroll social media.
Unfortunately, too many peoplethink that that is research
these days.
But I mean really research.
Go in and pull up periodicalsand see what the studies are
(01:50):
saying.
I definitely enjoy it.
I always find that I learnedsomething new or it reinforces
something that I once knew andkind of forgot about and brought
it back to the surface.
I mean, in in short, I like itand in also short, it can be
daunting.
It can be quite the task tostart.
It's one of those things for meanyway, that it's kind of like
(02:14):
exercise, right.
It's kind of like getting goingis the hardest thing sometimes
and yes, that's true for me, apersonal trainer that loves to
work out, it's still tough toget going sometimes.
It's like that for me withresearch too.
I know I'm going to get into itonce I start, but I also know
once I start, I'm going toreally start digging down into
(02:37):
the hole and then once I'm in, Iam in.
So it's daunting.
But I've been working on mythird book and it's almost
complete.
I mean I really thought I hadit complete and getting ready to
send it to the editor and thenme, being the perfectionist that
I am, I'm kind of like I wantto add this I need to think
(02:58):
about this, I really want to getmore into this and so and
that's OK, I think doing thathas definitely improved some
quality of it, and it kind ofbrought me into today's topic
today, because I've been doingsome research and this book is
all about what the problem is asfar as health and fitness, in
(03:21):
my opinion, and the problem, ofcourse, being that only 25% or
so of the population is doingenough physical activity to get
benefits, which means 75% arenot.
And the problem also is that wein the health and fitness
industry according to the ACSM,they made a very good statement,
(03:41):
stated that we're really goodat helping fit people get more
fit and we're really good atgetting healthy people to get
healthier, but we haven't beenso good at helping the unfit or
the less fit get equally fit oraverage fit and getting the less
(04:02):
well to become healthy.
And I think that's true.
I think especially in ourcountry, maybe worldwide, but
you know, definitely I think inthe industrialized nations and
some of the more affluentnations, you know, we have a
feast or famine thing going on.
We have people that are superfit and doing everything they
(04:23):
can to be healthy, and then wehave people who are not average,
so I definitely agree with thatstatement.
So the book is about what thatproblem is, why maybe that
problem is occurring, and then,of course, what the solutions
are, and it's going to soundvery, very self-patting on the
(04:47):
back, but one of the bigsolutions is getting a personal
trainer, and I really really dobelieve that, and I'm going to
leave that for another day.
But I will say, though, that itreally gave me some good
research.
I mean just a bunch ofdifferent stuff, and today I'm
going to talk about some of that, some of the financial side of
(05:10):
things.
A statistic I found that I waspretty blown away over, and it
was about talking about what ittakes to become a qualified
allied health professional asfar as the American Medical
Association is concerned, andit's quite daunting, and it
should be.
(05:30):
I guess daunting is my word ofthe day, I don't know, but it is
rigorous and there are manydifferent professions under
allied health.
So that's more of a generalthing as far as what it takes to
get into the allied healthindustry, and it should be
pretty difficult, right.
And then I dug into a lot of theresearch regarding, say,
(05:52):
personal training, and I'm notsure if you're aware of this,
but personal training stilldoesn't really have licensure.
I mean, I say really because itI mean basically personal
training doesn't have licensureat all across the country.
There are some states that havesome licensure for exercise
(06:15):
physiologies exercisephysiologists, I should say, in
exercise physiology but therearen't personal training
licenses.
And you know I have taught thisstuff.
I have been a personal trainerfor over 31 years, so I know the
pros and cons, I get it.
You know I get that withlicensure can become there can
(06:40):
become some problems down theroad with people telling you
what to do.
I mean I get all of the prosand cons.
When people in my industry willoftentimes say, oh, I'm glad
there isn't, it's like, well, Idon't know.
I mean I don't have to worryabout that because I don't think
it's going to happen.
(07:01):
But I will say that I'm prolicensure.
I think that if we had licensurewe would have more qualified
trainers out there, because itwould take a commitment to get
your license.
The closest thing we do have isaccredited certifications, and
(07:21):
accredited certifications aregood and there's only like four.
Some people claim five, butthere's really four accredited
certifications, and accreditedin this case means that there's
an accrediting body that looksat all of the research, all the
recommendations, to make surethat everybody in these
(07:42):
different agencies are tellingpeople roughly the same thing.
So there are many, there arehundreds, there are thousands of
non-accredited certificationsin the fitness world.
I mean it's a joke.
And most of them no, all ofthem, other than the four you
can just go on a computer andtake the test and never had any
(08:04):
live coaching, training or evenany proctoring of your test.
I mean it's a flat out joke.
They charge you I don't knowlike 50 bucks and then you print
this certification.
I mean it's an outright joke.
And some gyms and organizationsdo their own.
I mean hopefully everybodylistening realizes how faulty
(08:25):
that can be.
But the accredited ones don'tdo that and I've taught for some
of them and I can tell you thatthey're pretty rigorous.
I mean the American College ofSports Medicine certified
personal trainer exam has anunder 40% pass rate.
So the majority of people failwhen they take it the first time
.
I've had students that havefailed it one or two times
(08:46):
before they finally pass it andthese were students that I
thought were absolutely readyfor it.
So it's a rigorous test.
I mean, I know pass fail ratesdon't always tell us the quality
of person you're going to get.
I get that that, but at leastit gives us some knowledge, some
education, some standards thatpeople have to go by to get into
(09:10):
it.
And then you have to maintainit, which takes commitment.
You have to maintain your CECs.
So that's that with thecertification and licensure.
Again, certification is great.
I think it's better thannothing.
I wish we had licensure, but wedon't.
And what I want to talk about,though, the statistic I saw was
(09:32):
the pay scale for trainers.
Now it did not say, in what Isaw, whether it was personal
trainers or people who kind ofcall themselves trainers that
work at the gyms.
You know, like, maybe they workat the YMCA and they work the
floor, maybe they work at LAFitness, maybe they do some
(09:53):
personal training and then maybethey do some training for the
gym.
It did not say.
But what it did say was theaverage yearly salary for
somebody who calls themselves afitness trainer is $46,000 per
year.
Now what it went on to say andthis is in today's economy, it's
(10:13):
actually yeah, no, it's today'seconomy.
This is in the latest, actuallyNovember, december, acsm
Journal of 2024.
So we're talking five monthsago.
So, yes, this is the latestinformation.
That is only going to sustain aperson in one state in the
(10:35):
United States, and that statehappened to be Mississippi.
This is by no means a slam onMississippi.
What this is is about in onlyone state in the United States
can a fitness trainer who's hadsome training, according to the
research, be able to have a job,have a career in it and pay his
(10:59):
bills.
And I guess you know $46,000 isthe a little bit less than the
amount that most states wouldcall a sustainable income.
That's pretty sad, right?
I mean that's pretty sad, right.
I mean I understand that notthat long ago, that that wasn't
(11:21):
a bad salary, and pleas, I'm notbeing judgmental, I'm not
sitting here saying what's goodmoney and what's not good money.
I mean that's all relative,right.
I mean, for a person thatdoesn't have any bills, that's
going to go a long way.
For a person that's got studentloan debt and they're starting
their career off and the rentand mortgage prices are what
(11:41):
they are.
I have a daughter who's 21,getting ready to be 22, and I
can tell you, man, there is noway.
I mean I don't know if shemakes that at Publix I mean,
it's probably in that ballpark,maybe a little bit less.
I really really don't know.
But I know she's struggling andis very, you know, very nervous
about getting her own place andbeing a parent.
(12:01):
I'm like you know, it's allright, you're still going to
school, you know you'll, we'llfigure this out.
But I do know that that wouldbe tough if you're coming out of
school and you're in a state inFlorida where I am located
happens to be one of thosestates where that money isn't
going to cut it.
I mean and then it went on tosay the same statistics that
(12:22):
that person, or these peopleonly 20% of them are continuing
to work at that fitness trainerjob a year later.
Well, it only makes sense ifthe average salary for a fitness
trainer is $46,000 a year andin only one state could they
basically pay their bills and Iknow this is subjective Then it
(12:44):
only makes sense that a person,maybe with a lot of passion, is
only going to be able to do thatfor a short period of time and
they're either going to have toget a raise of course they are
or, I don't know, they're goingto have to get roommates.
I mean, it's just money, right?
I mean it's just simpleeconomics that if that is barely
(13:06):
over and under in most statesto pay your bills, you can only
do it for so long.
And so what happens?
The person who's considered aqualified fitness professional
leaves the industry and goes andstarts making money at
something that can pay theirbills.
I mean, looking at that, thereare plenty of jobs that are
(13:30):
going to pay the bills betterthan that $46,000.
And that's fine.
I have nothing against whateveranybody does to make money,
whether they go to trade school,whether they go to college,
whether they've never gone tocollege, never go to trade
school, whatever, I don't care.
But if you've got a person whowanted to do this and now they
(13:53):
can't, and now you're onlykeeping 20% of them for whatever
reason, well, the reason isthey can't pay their bills,
right, the rest of them?
That's not good.
And so then we have part of theproblem of the health crisis,
right?
The health and fitness crisis,where study after study after
study has shown that a minimalamount of physical activity 150
(14:20):
minutes of moderate exercise perweek, plus two days of strength
training is enough to get thebenefits to improve somebody's
health.
So if we had more peoplepreaching and teaching that and
teaching people how to do it andhaving the passion, because
(14:42):
you're obviously going to havethe passion to go into it.
But if they go into it trying tohelp people but they can't pay
their bills, then what are westuck with?
Can't pay their bills, thenwhat are we stuck with?
Well, if you've listened topast podcasts or when you buy
the book, you'll see all thisinteresting research.
But what they're stuck with andI don't know what it is with
(15:03):
this 20% or 80% it sounds likeit's made up, but I promise you
that it's not.
But what they're stuck with isonly 20% of the fitness
influencers have the credentialsto be giving advice out there.
Now, these aren't the peoplenecessarily that you know, have
(15:25):
the education or whatever, butthey are self-proclaimed, have
what they say they need.
These are the people on yoursocial media.
They're on your YouTubechannels, podcasters.
They are fitness influencers,and only 20% polled have the
credentials.
Yet, if you remember from apast episode, over 70% of people
(16:00):
have admitted that aninfluencer has influenced their
fitness.
So you are being influenced 70%of the cases by somebody who
doesn't know what they'retalking about.
And so what happens then?
You get frustrated because youthink you're supposed to be
doing intermittent fasting.
Hey, and maybe that's great foryou, but if you've listened,
the research doesn't reallysupport it, okay.
Or you think that you need todo 2000 crunches a day to have a
(16:23):
flat stomach so you can wearyour bikini to the beach this
summer.
Or you think you should bedoing the ketogenic diet.
Or you think you should do allof your exercise on fasting
cardio, which means you haven'teaten before you do your
cardiorespiratory, because it'sgoing to magically burn more fat
(16:46):
than if you did.
So I'm giving you all thesemyths that are out there that
influencers are peddling leftand right.
Don't even get me going in thesupplement world, because hardly
any supplements have passed thetest.
So you're buying supplements,you're buying BS, you're going
out there, you're trying thesethings.
(17:06):
It's not working.
You're getting frustrated, youquit, you go back to your old
lifestyle, and then that's whywe have only 25% of the people
doing the minimal amount ofexercise to get benefits.
Don't you see the cycle I mean.
So what can you do about it?
I mean, what can we all doabout it?
(17:27):
We have to value health andfitness more.
I just listened to a podcasterwho was talking about wealth and
I think I've brought this upbefore, but I like those
podcasts.
They're interesting to me.
And no, I'm not greedy.
And no, you know, that's not mybig interest.
And no, I don't play in thestock market all the time.
No, what I find interestingabout these guys is they always
(17:52):
make the you know, make thegeneral statement we probably
have all held on to, but thathealth is wealth.
And the one I just finishedlistening to it was so funny.
The podcaster asked him.
She said so if you're going toleave people with one financial
piece of advice, what is it?
And he said take your healthserious, his words.
(18:14):
Take your mental health, yourspiritual health and your
physical health serious.
Make that number one before youdo anything else.
I hear it all the time fromthese guys and what's so funny
(18:34):
is when I pull up their picturesto check them out, like I
pulled this guy up on Threadsand X or Twitter to see what he
looked like and he's thischiseled faced, fit looking guy.
I'm like what is it?
I mean, they just seem to getit Like success begets success
for some reason with this.
But in any event, if we knowthis, if we're all claiming that
(18:58):
we understand that this is apriority, then why is a
professional fitness trainer?
Again, I don't know if that'spersonal trainer.
Personal trainers tend to makea little bit more, but they have
to make it on their own.
I mean, I know that there'snobody paying my paychecks, it's
clients.
(19:18):
I think I have somewhere around50 clients or something like
that.
They all pay my paycheck.
So us personal trainers youknow you eat what you kill.
For the most part, rarely dopersonal trainers work for gyms.
I guess that's when they wouldbe called the fitness trainers.
But if we value it so much,then why is their salary not
(19:39):
sustainable in 49 states?
If we really see it as apriority in this country and
people talk about it all thetime and most of the doctors I
know really push for it andhustle for it I mean, the ones I
know are great about it.
So if we know this, what'shappening?
(20:01):
Why aren't they making moremoney?
I mean, I know a lot ofbusinesses in town and I'm not
going to mention any namesbecause there's probably people
on their boards that are goingto be pissed off, but I know
that they canned wellnessprograms.
I know for a fact they got ridof them and I know what they
were paying their wellnessdirectors and they were paying
their wellness workers.
(20:21):
It was not good.
I mean, it was probably as lowon the salary board as anybody
in their organization.
It's like okay, so these peoplehave degrees, they have
certifications and you don'twant to pay them.
So what message is that sendingto everybody else?
(20:43):
When I was in college, when Iwas working on my master's
degree, corporate wellness wasgoing to be the next big thing.
In fact, my master's degree wascalled exercise, physiology,
slash wellness, because wellnesswas going to be the big thing
and a lot of the people thestudents my age, older, younger,
whatever went into graduateschool thinking they were either
(21:05):
going to go out on their own orbecome wellness directors for
hospitals, for privatebusinesses.
I mean, it was big Coors, thebeer company had a big wellness
department.
Believe it or not.
The guy out in Colorado I don'teven know if they're still in
business, I have no idea but Iknow that he had a personal
passion for physical fitness andhe had one of the best
(21:27):
facilities and paid the bestmoney.
Disney had a huge wellnessprogram.
There was wellness programs inWinter Park and Orlando.
It was really really big.
Some companies called it workhardening programs and a lot of
the physical therapists that Iknew started working in that and
they were pushing exercisephysiologists in that direction.
(21:49):
Because you work for companieslike UPS male companies, you
know, nowadays I guess it wouldbe Amazon but you work for them
to strengthen their employeesthat work in the warehouses, I
mean that is great, that is likegreat programs and they were
getting paid decent.
And then they weren't.
Companies quit investing in thewellness movement, end over
(22:18):
that.
A healthy and well-employedmisses less work, is more
productive and costs the companyless in medical insurance and
medical bills.
So they know that.
But then it comes to okay.
So we've got to hire Jane, whohas a master's degree in
exercise physiology fromUniversity of Florida.
(22:40):
I'm a UCF guy but I'm justthrowing Florida out there
because they have a phenomenalex-phys program.
So we're going to hire her.
She's one of the best and she'sgoing to run our program and
she's going to hire a smallstaff to help her run the gym
and do you know, say, lipidprofiles, you know through the
(23:00):
doctor's prescriptions, all thisstuff.
Whatever, she's going to be thewellness director.
You know, say, lipid profiles,you know, through the doctor's
prescriptions, all this stuff,whatever.
She's going to be the wellnessdirector, but you know what?
We're going to have to pay her$75,000 a year.
You know, to do this, you'regoing to see companies go oh, we
are Well, yeah, but if you dothis, then you're going to get
this back in all of your 1,000employees.
(23:21):
It's going to cost you less toget this back in all of your
1,000 employees.
It's going to cost you less todo this.
They're going to not call insick as much.
They're going to feel happier.
They're going to do a betterjob because they're more fit.
I mean, studies have shown itover and over and, of course,
down the road, they're going tobe way more productive and
hopefully they're still workingfor you.
And if you took care of theirwellness or helped them take
care of their wellness or gavethem opportunities to take care
(23:43):
of their wellness, they probablyare still working for you.
Oh well, you know what We'll dothat next year.
I mean, this is what happensall of the time and I'm just
giving that scenario out there.
You know why don't we value itmore?
Why don't we value it more.
One of the guys I listened to, amotivational speaker kind of
(24:04):
guy.
He always says it's not reallya principle of yours unless it
costs you money.
I mean, isn't that so true?
Somebody will say, oh, you know, I really really believe in
this.
You know it's a big principleof mine.
It's like okay, so you knowit's going to cost you this much
.
It's like well, I mean it'sgreat for somebody else.
(24:27):
I mean you see where I'm goingwith that.
I mean, is it really afoundational principle that we
should all be thinking about?
I mean, the clients that I have,I mean I know they value it.
They pay the money because theyknow it helps them.
I mean a lot of them know whatthey're supposed to be doing but
(24:50):
they don't do it and they knowthat about themselves.
So they're like you know I'mgoing to pay so this person can
tell me what I should be doing,and then they're going to help
me do it correctly, and I don'tsee this as like a terrible
expense.
I mean I'm paying into myhealth.
(25:11):
I mean that's the conversationsI have with clients.
You know, I can't really everremember a time.
I mean there's probably been acouple of times where somebody
was, you know, kicking tiressomewhere at a place and was
talking to me about personaltraining, which I never solicit.
When I'm out public or even atevents, when I go speak places,
(25:32):
I still don't solicit.
It makes me feel veryuncomfortable, like I just don't
do it, and literally it makesme feel uncomfortable and I do
all I can to.
You know, if I think somebodyis getting ready to ask me if
I'm taking any clients, I'llchange the subject or walk away.
I mean, that's howuncomfortable it makes me.
Number one, because I rarely amtaking new clients and number
(25:53):
two, it's just not a good placeto do that.
I mean, I want somebody, youknow, to have taken the time to
think about it and call me, notyou know.
Oh, I sparked motivation forthem and now they're going to
come up and kick tires and asksome questions.
But you know, obviously, ifthey do, I'm going to politely
answer questions.
But maybe occasionally there'sbeen that case where they'll ask
(26:17):
me and I'll say, oh, it's thismuch.
Oh, yeah, that's a little, youknow, that's a little much out
of the budget.
I mean it might happen then.
But like when people call orkeep people come in for
consultations or clients thatcurrently pay.
I've never heard them say, ohman, this is like really
expensive, like it just doesn'tcome up, cause I think when
(26:38):
people are ready to change theirhealth, it's not expensive.
I mean, you know, we've all gotour priorities, what we want
and what we can spend our moneyon.
I absolutely get it.
But it just doesn't come upprivately because I think at
this point people are ready tochange.
So how do we get society ingeneral to think about this?
(27:00):
How do we get you know wheretrainers at gyms are?
Fitness trainers at gyms areconsidered somebody that can
really, really help people,because they are.
If they have their credentials,they can.
I mean, they're on the frontlines.
They're the ones out there thatcan give you the right advice
(27:21):
or the wrong advice.
And guess what people?
If they make crappy incomes,you're not going to get people
who are motivated and passionateto help you because they didn't
go into the field.
They realized they can't do it.
I know a lot of people thatthat's the case, that they know
more than the trainers workingout there and they chose to go
(27:41):
into a different career becausethey couldn't pay the bills for
them.
I know I have a lot of friendslike that.
I got friends with exercisephysiology degrees that are
working as insurance salesmen orselling real estate.
So I mean, how are we going toput our money where our mouth is
in this country and understandthat if we really really, really
(28:01):
value it like we say we do, howare we going to really really
value it?
All right, I've learned longago that I can't change the
world.
I can only change me and mycircle of influence.
But I'm just putting it all outthere and you know, the way I
try to help is I try to educatepeople.
I try to encourage young peoplewho have good physiques and are
(28:26):
passionate about health andfitness to go into the industry
and try to make it.
I mean, that's how I do it andI have taught sports medicine
before and I can proudly saythat I have a lot of students
out there at least 10 in thearea that are out there making a
living and I'm very proud ofthat because they're making a
living.
They came to me wanting to knowhow to become a trainer.
(28:49):
They got their degree, they gottheir certification and they're
making a living and now it's upto them to make a better living
.
But that's what I try to do, soI'm just going to put this out
there.
I want you to value it andremember.
If it's really a principle ofyours, then it's going to cost
you some money, right?
Thank you for listening totoday's show.
(29:10):
I ask you to please follow thisshow on wherever you get your
podcasts and also please hitautomatic downloads.
It really helps me and it helpsthe show.
Now I want to thank OverheadDoor of Daytona Beach, their
premier garage door company inVolusia County, with the best
product with the best service.
(29:31):
I can vouch for Jeff and ZachHawk, the owners.
They are great people.
If you need any help with yourgarage doors, give them a shout.
386-222-3165.
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
The Breakfast Club
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy And Charlamagne Tha God!
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.